Game Concept

Incident at the Bargewright Inn » Devlog

3 years ago by Oldcustard

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Overview

Title: Incident at the Bargewright Inn, or possibly The Bargewright Inncdient

Concept Statement: You are an investigator who arrives at a fantasy tavern after reports that somebody has gone missing. You must explore the tavern and speak to the various patrons and staff to determine the fate of the missing person, who is responsible for their disappearance, and any accomplices or weapons used.

Genre/Category: Deduction, Puzzle, Fantasy. The core gameplay revolves around the player working out the correct sequence of events with the clues available to them; hence the deduction and puzzle categories. The fantasy category applies to the theme and setting of the game.

Concept Creation Process: I have always been a fan of social deduction games, and more broadly, deduction games in general. While these games are traditionally multiplayer party games (for example, Werewolf/Mafia, Secret Hitler, or Coup) or multiplayer video games (for example, Town of Salem), with each player having a particular role to fill, the concept has and can be extended to single player experiences. I initially wanted to incorporate a few basic ideas into my game. I want the player to have multiple interesting characters to meet and talk to, each unique and identifiable. I also want replayability. Every time the game is played, the victim, fate of the victim, suspect, accomplices, and other factors will be randomly determined, meaning no two playthroughs will be the same. The game concept is heavily influenced by Cluedo, the classic boardgame with its murder mystery and “whodunnit” elements, games such as Stardew Valley for a cast of unique characters, and 6 Degrees of Sabotage, a fun little game where the player must track a bomb as it moves from person to person, a game that also features unique characters. A fantastic game by the same developer, called The Return of the Obra Dinn, is also an influence as its core gameplay revolves around determining the fates of characters within the game. Elements like the investigation sequences in This is the Police may also be included, where the player has to string together the correct sequence of events.

This is the Police - Detective Sequence

Investigation Sequence in This is the Police [1]

Audience and Competitive Analysis: Deduction and social deduction games are typically aimed at a teenage or adult audience due to the level of interaction and difficulty of problem solving required, and often have darker themes or content. Incident at the Bargewright Inn would be no different. Within that age group, the type of player varies wildly. For the casual party games like standard Mafia/Werewolf, anyone can play, from "hardcore" gamers to people who never play any other games, due to the "who wants to join in" impromptu nature of these games. More serious tabletop deduction games such as Secret Hitler attract a more serious group. Town of Salem likely strikes a balance of the two, as it is a free to play game with a mobile market. Singeplayer experiences are likely to have a more serious playerbase and Incident at the Bargewright Inn is likely to be the same, as it is quite a niche concept. I feel that with it's cast of characters, random generation, and setting, it would have an appeal in its own right.

Game Treatment/Concept

You are an investigator who has just arrived at the bustling Bargewright Inn. After being informed that somebody has gone missing, you are left to your own devices to determine the fate of the missing person. You are always informed of who the missing character is, but their identity and cause of disappearance changes everytime you play the game, as well as the suspect, accomplices and any tools or weapons used.

Gameplay: The player is free to wander around the several levels of the tavern (the downstairs main area, the upstairs accommodation area, and the storage area/cellar), speak to the patrons and staff, and gather clues. Interaction will be done by a simple dialogue system like those in many RPGs, where the NPC speaks and the player is given a list of responses. The player can ask NPCs for information, and the NPCs will tell the player a clue - however, it may not always be true! The player can also find useful pieces of evidence in areas of the tavern. It could be an item belonging to an NPC, a weapon, or a note. When the player is ready to present their conclusion, they must identify the chain of events that occurred and who is ultimately responsible. The player will then be informed if they are correct or not.

Artstyle: With the entirety of the game set in a tavern, its style will be the main focus. The characters each have their own look, and being set in a high fantasy setting, will be of different races and classes. The characters from the boardgame Red Dragon Inn are an inspiration for some of the different types of people found. Ideally, the NPCs will have both a topdown sprite for the world and a portrait for dialogue, similar to what is found in Stardew Valley.

Example Tavern Tileset